NHL Trade Talks Stop for Sochi

Rangers Yet to Decide on Keeping Callahan as He Heads to Olympics; Same With Isles, Vanek

ENLARGE

Thomas Vanek of the Islanders controls the puck against Dan Girardi of the Rangers in their recent game at Yankee Stadium. Vanek is heading off to play for Austria in the Olympics.
Getty Images

By

Dave Caldwell

Updated Feb. 7, 2014 9:36 p.m. ET

Ryan Callahan is scheduled to depart Saturday for Sochi, Russia, where he will play hockey for the United States at the Winter Olympics. That means Rangers executives will keep their fingers crossed for another 15 long days, hoping that Callahan, the team's beloved captain and central bargaining chip, remains in one piece.

Six of his Rangers teammates are to play in Sochi: Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan for the U.S., Henrik Lundqvist and Carl Hagelin for Sweden, Rick Nash for Canada and Mats Zuccarello for Norway. The Rangers also hope those guys don't get hurt, of course.

But Callahan has become a focal point, because he is the only one of the Rangers' Olympians who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Rangers general manager Glen Sather and Callahan's agent, Steve Bartlett, have talked about a new contract—but so far, no deal.

NHL teams were required to freeze their rosters at 3 p.m. Friday, as players prepared to travel to the Olympics. NHL teams are permitted to gather again on Feb. 19 at 2 p.m., but the roster freeze won't lift until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 23, the day of the gold-medal game in Sochi.

Bartlett reportedly has been seeking a six-year deal for Callahan worth between $6 million and $7 million annually. Callahan, 28, is unquestionably tenacious and is admired by his teammates as a leader, but his style of play has led to him being hurt—twice this season.

As a result, the Rangers have been said to be offering Callahan a five-year deal worth about $30 million. They also face signing another critical pending free agent, defenseman Dan Girardi, who is making $3.3 million this season and could be worth $5 million annually.

The Rangers could sign Callahan to an extension, but they could also trade him before the NHL deadline, which this year falls on March—only 10 days after the Olympics roster freeze ends and just six days after the Rangers resume their season Feb. 27 at home against Chicago.

ENLARGE

Ryan Callahan will play for the U.S. in Sochi while the Rangers decide whether to trade or keep their captain.
Getty Images

So the ideal time to deal Callahan, or any other Olympic players in similar circumstances, would have been before Friday's roster freeze. But there was only one trade made Friday, with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins swapping two minor-leaguers.

The Islanders did make one trade late Thursday night, sending forwards Peter Regin and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who were free-agent signings who proved to be colossal busts, to Chicago for one fourth-round draft choice. Not two choices, one.

But Thomas Vanek, the high-scoring wing who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres early in the season, remained on the Islanders' roster on Friday at 3 p.m.

Vanek, 30, is to play in Sochi for Austria, for which he has been named the team's captain.

The Islanders probably have more incentive to trade Vanek than the Rangers have to trade Callahan, because Vanek, the team's highest-paid forward at $5.75 million, will become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Earlier this week, according to a report in Newsday, Vanek turned down a seven-year contract offer from the Islanders worth about $50 million. Vanek, for whom the Islanders traded forward Matt Moulson and two draft picks, said he wants to explore the free-agent market.

The Islanders, who are desperately trying to stay in the race for a playoff berth, are to play Colorado on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum in their final game before the Olympic break. Austria, unlike the U.S., isn't expected to contend for a medal in Sochi, however.

The area's other NHL team, the Devils, made no moves before the roster freeze, either, even though the team is in dire need of scorers. The team entered Friday's home game against Edmonton averaging 2.33 goals per game, 26th among 30 teams.

The Devils can't lure teams with a first-round draft pick in 2014 because they don't have one, having forfeited it as a penalty for attempting to circumvent the salary cap by agreeing with prolific forward Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17-year deal worth $102 million in 2010.

Kovalchuk retired from the NHL and left the Devils after last season to return to his native Russia, where he is playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. He is expected to play for the favored host team in Sochi. At least the Devils don't have to worry about him getting hurt.

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